


Sing Drabbles

by BeemurBee



Category: Sing (2016)
Genre: Drabbles, M/M, Non-Canon Relationship, Slice of Life, canon/oc relationship, non-beta'd
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-18
Updated: 2017-05-05
Packaged: 2018-10-20 11:52:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10662030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeemurBee/pseuds/BeemurBee
Summary: Johnny's got a crush, then he's got a boyfriend. These are a few moments from their relationship.





	1. And When You Smile the World Turns Upside-Down

**Author's Note:**

> I know, guys, I know I've got at least two other stories to work on, but when inspiration hits, it hits hard. This is gonna be a drabble series. I'll try to keep it in chronological order, but it's not going to flow from chapter to chapter. It does involve a Canon/OC relationship, so if you're against that this isn't the story for you.
> 
> And as a bit of disclaimer, since no one's ages are ever really specified, I headcanon Johnny at 20. That's how he'll be written.

The first time Johnny layed eyes on Chris, he had to stop and do a double take. Up until that point, in the weeks that had already gone into the rebuilding of the Moon Theater, Johnny hadn’t seen any other gorillas on the construction crew. This city wasn’t exactly filled to the brim with gorillas, so the sight of one he didn’t know was a surprise to say the least.

Then the gorilla turned around to grab a pile of lumber and stopped when he caught sight of Johnny, and the young singer was suddenly aware that he’d been staring. The other gorilla didn’t seem upset though, with the way he straightened up and smiled at Johnny.

Johnny stiffened with a sharp inhale as the sight of the gorilla’s bright smile, and the way his eyes shone, made his heart stutter. There was a moment, he couldn’t tell how long, where the two stared at each other and Johnny could feel his face heating up, before the spell was broken by another crew member.

“Quit lollygaggin’, Chris, I need those beams!” shouted a bear from the scaffolding above, cause the other gorilla, Chris, to jump and fumble with the lumber. Johnny watched him steady himself and then effortlessly climb up the support tubes with one free hand, while carrying the beams over his shoulder with his other hand. He continued to watch until Chris disappeared onto the higher levels.

Once he was gone, Johnny’s head dropped and he stared into space for a few seconds while his heart beat returned to normal.

“Oh, _bollocks_ ,” he swore quietly to himself.

* * *

By the time the week was out, Johnny _knew_ he had a problem. He’d caught himself staring at Chris so many times he’d lost count, and the others were starting to notice as well. Just yesterday Rosita had caught him by surprise when she’d asked him if there was anything wrong – she’d seen him staring but had thankfully not been in a position to see what, or rather who, he was staring at, and he’d been to distracted to notice her until she had spoken. His surprised scream had nearly scared the mother of 25 out of her skin.

And here he was again, hiding just inside one of the recently completed practice rooms and watching Chris drywall. The upper half of the gorilla’s jumpsuit was pulled down and tied about his waist, leaving his torso in a spackle-stained gray tank-top.

“What’re you doing, Johnny?” came a voice from beside him so suddenly it caused him to yelp and, in an interesting, twisting tumble, fall flat on his back outside the room. His eyes snapped to the porcupine who’d startled him and then over to Chris, who was looking right at him, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. Before Chris could open his mouth, Johnny was scrambling back to his feet and back into the practice room. He practically slammed the door closed behind him.

He looked at Ash and then laughed nervously and leaned away from her and into the door.

Ash didn’t look amused. She just stared at him and popped her gum.

“Wh-what? I’m not doin’, uh, anything. Honest,” he told her, stuttering through the words like he usually did when he lied about something. Ash’s raised eyebrow told Johnny she wasn’t buying it.

“Uh-huh.” She popped her gum again and canted her hips. “Sure, and I’m a lion. What’s going on with you, lately?”

“What d'you mean? Nothin’s goin’ on, just, uh normal… stuff,” Johnny trailed off with a nervous chuckle. He scratched his cheek and twisted his head to look out the door’s window. The angle wasn’t great, but he could see Chris had gone back to his work. He didn’t notice the way Ash’s eyes narrowed in suspicion and was again taken by surprise when she grabbed his sleeve and yanked him away from the door. Her ability to move him may have had more to do with his momentary shock and less to do with her physical ability, but it didn’t change the fact that she moved him away from the door long enough for her to get past him.

“N-no, wait! Ash, don’t!” he protested as she yanked the door open and looked out. She blinked at the gorilla at the end of the hall, who waved back cheerily, and then backed into the room again.

Silence reigned as Ash’s finally realized what was going on, and she turned slowly to face Johnny, he face set in a grin of unholy glee at the juicy piece of gossip she’d just discovered.

Johnny stared at her with wide eyes and shuffled from foot to foot, anxiously waiting for her to say anything.

“Why, Johnny,” she began, her grin turning into a sly smirk as she planted her hands on her hips and leaned forward, and Johnny leaned back in response. “Do you have a _crush_?”

“N-no!” His hands, which had been restlessly twisting, dropped to his sides and his back straightened almost painfully. His eyes flitted about the room, looking at everything but the porcupine who was seconds away from bursting into laughter. The stand off between them lasted a matter of seconds before Ash started giggling and Johnny sagged and leaned against the wall.

“Alright, yea, fine. I’ve got… a ‘ _crush_ ’,” he admitted finally, heaving a sigh and sliding down the wall until he was sitting on the floor. Ash’s chuckles slowly petered off and she joined him. She gave him a silent, sympathetic smile and then stretched her legs out as she tried to figure out how to help.

“Alright, so… have you talked to him?” she asked, to which Johnny snorted and shook his head.

“Why not?”

“I dunno, it’s not like I ain’t _tried_. It’s just…” he pulled his knees up enough to rest his hands on them and groaned. “Every time I try, ‘e gives me that… _smile_ and suddenly it’s like… I can’t even think, never mind _speak_. I wind up makin’ a fool of m'self.”

Ash watched him sigh and drop his head into his hands, a thoughtful frown on her face, and nodded.

“Yeah, that’s a problem, alright.” She turned to look at the door and noticed that Chris was no longer in sight of it. Then she looked back at Johnny, who appeared so lost. With a short grunt, she hopped to her feet and stood firmly in front of the singer.

“There’s only one way to deal with the problem,” she said, her voice so full of confidence that Johnny was forced to look up at her, confusion and curiosity written all over his face. She grinned and held up a finger, looking very much like a professor about to lecture her class.

“Go talk to him.”

Johnny dropped his hands into his lap and his face went flat in mater of milliseconds.

“That _is_ the problem, Ash. I _can’t_ talk to ‘im!”

“Cause you’re afraid!” Ash replied instantly. “And you know what Buster says about being afraid?”

Johnny groaned loudly and dropped his head against the wall.

“ _Do it anyway_ ,” he quoted, like he was being forced to. “Tha’s great for Meena, bu’ it’s not the _same_.”

“Sure it is, now get up,” Ash demanded, tugging on Johnny’s sleeve again. The gorilla gave her a disgruntled frown and didn’t allow himself to be moved this time. She huffed and let him go.

“C'mon, Johnny! If Meena can get over her stage fright, you can talk to your crush. What’ve you got to lose?”

Johnny huffed and looked away. “My digni'y?” he said, rolling his eyes.

“Stop being a baby. Now get _up_.” He still refused to move and she crossed her arms. “Don’t make me call Rosita in here.”

He still looked like he wanted to fight, even with the threat of Rosita’s mothering, but eventually he caved.

“ _Fine_. Fine.” He still grumbled softly to himself, but he stood up and faced the door. Ash shoved him a little when he remained still, tense with nervous energy and the fear that he would wind up humiliating himself. His march out the door looked more like that of a condemned criminal’s than of one animal going to talk to another. Ash followed him to the door and leaned against the frame, watching with a grin as Johnny approached Chris, who had sat down for a short breather and was giving the singer that _smile_ again. She couldn’t hear what Johnny said from where she was standing, but judging by the way Chris’s face lit up, whatever it was was working.

“Is he finally doing it?” Rosita asked, approaching Ash from the other end of the hallway, with Gunter trailing behind.

“Ee-yup,” Ash said, popping the ‘p’ and giving the pigs a smug grin. “Told ya I could do it.”

“Is about time, ja?” Gunter asked, his own face split wide in a grin as wide as Ash’s as the three of them watched Chris take out a pen and write something down on Johnny’s hand. Rosita just looked relieved.

“This looks like the beginning of an... interesting relationship,” she said, before turning around and ushering the other two away to give Johnny and Chris their privacy.


	2. Don't Let It Pass, Don't Get Locked In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He ended up at the concert by accident and now he may be in love...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a re-hash of chapter 1 from Chris' point of view. New content to come, I just wanted to get this scene out from every perspective
> 
> And BTW if you guys have an idea for a scene you want to see between Chris and Johnny, I take requests! I'd love to fill this out with new ideas since right now I only have a handful.
> 
> And please do let me know what you think.
> 
> Love!

The first time Chris had layed eyes on Johnny was at his performance in the remains of the Moon Theater, weeks before he'd been assigned to it's resurrection. He had been taking his little sister home from their dinner when they'd stumbled upon a crowd and had been herded into the the makeshift 'open-air' theater. Once inside it had been impossible to draw Kiley away from the, admittedly incredible, performance from the pigs, Rosita and Gunter. They'd managed to find a seat somewhere in the middle just in time to see Johnny drag his piano on stage.

Chris could admit, he'd been blown away by the other gorilla's singing voice; and Kiley had been so enraptured by the beat that half his attention was focused on making sure she didn't fall off his shoulders from her excited bouncing. But even after Johnny's performance ended and the next started, Chris was still thinking him. The song he sang was one Chris knew well and Johnny's cover had blown all others out of the water – it was so _passionate_. To call Chris impressed would be an understatement.

He'd been distracted throughout the rest of the concert, barely paying attention to the following songs. Even the police copters hadn't been enough to take his eyes away from where Johnny had disappeared to after his song.

The walk home passed in a blur and when Kiley started tugging on his hands because he was moving _way_ to slow for her, he wanted to slap himself. Here he was, thinking about a gorilla he'd only _seen_ for three minutes. Vaguely, he wondered if this is what teenage animals felt about their boy bands – though the thought left him feeling a little dirty and he immediately dismissed it and resolved to push Johnny from his mind.

He was mostly successful – over the following weeks he'd only had a handful of invasive thoughts, and most of them were because Kiley couldn't stop raving about the porcupine- Ash's? - performance. He was able to push the memory of Johnny's performance so far out of his mind that when he was approached by his boss to replace a crewman who'd been injured on the Moon Theater sight, he'd honestly forgotten that there was even a correlation.

He'd nearly had an accident of his own when he saw Johnny walking through the site, to the temporary office that had been set up at the back. Up on the scaffolding, where he couldn't be seen, he watched Johnny walk through the frame and tarps and disappear into a half-built hallway. He had barely started to turn around when Gus, a grumpy black bear, loudly demanded the nail gun to Chris' left and then, instead of waiting for Chris to turn and grab it, bodily reached across him and nearly sent him tumbling three stories to the ground.

It was only good for the both of them that Chris was fast enough to grab a jut in the demolished wall to keep his balance. And at least Gus had the good grace to be apologetic.

In the two weeks after that initial sighting, Chris was spotting Johnny more and more and, honestly, was starting to feel confused. Every time he noticed the other gorilla, he was hiding just out of direct sight and would flee as soon as Chris looked his way. Chris was starting to wonder if there was something wrong.

“Is there something on my face?” he'd asked a rhino named Rocky one day, after watching Johnny trip over a bucket as he attempted to flee. Rocky had stared at him for a long moment before huffing, shaking his head, and going back to his work. Chris frowned, but followed his example and went back to cutting planks.

A few days later, when Chris was drywalling the almost completed practice rooms, Johnny finally approached him. Chris had watched him fall out of the door a few minutes previously and was a bit surprised that he wasn't running away again. It was a pleasant surprise, Johnny seemed nice enough, if a little nervous, so Chris was very pleased when Johnny started speaking.

Especially considering the first words out of the singer's mouth were, “I like your face!”

The conversation from that point on is both enlightening and enjoyable and by the time they've parted ways, Chris has given his phone number to Johnny in the cheesiest way possible, and Johnny's promised to call by tonight – tomorrow at the latest. And honestly, Chris can't wait.

He couldn't exactly tell before, what with the constant distance, but Johnny was _adorable_.


	3. Don't Look Back On Yesterday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coming out is never easy - especially to a father you've already disappointed once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A couple of you asked for Big Daddy's reaction to Johnny's new boyfriend, but I figured coming out would be the first hurdle Johnny would need to face before that. There will be a chapter where he eventually gets to meet Chris, but as of now he only gets to know him through Johnny's gushing.
> 
> I chose the name Marcus for Big Daddy since it seems to be the most popular, and it fits him rather well.
> 
> As always, let me know what you think! And if you have any ideas or requests for Johnny and Chris, I'm more than happy to hear them.
> 
> Love!

They had been on three successful dates, and two not-quite dates, by the time Johnny started wondering if maybe he should tell his dad about this. There was no real urgency – with his dad still in prison, and a trial date for parole still months away, the situation would hold. Still, he visited his father at least twice a week and always felt guilty when he left without telling his father about Chris. He honestly hadn't even told his dad he was _gay_ yet.

Part of him was scared; memories of his dad's reaction to the singing contest thing were enough to make him freeze. He'd been practically _disowned_ by the man. Even if his dad had forgiven him, and even apologized in the end, the fear of rejection made him hesitant.

Chris had been wonderful at supporting him. He couldn't really help, he'd never had a father to compare experiences with, but he listened attentively whenever Johnny fretted over it. He'd even looked up advice online for Johnny, with mixed results. He had told Johnny that even if he still had his mother around, he'd have wanted _her_ to know about Johnny. But, he'd admitted, he'd been closer to his mother than Johnny appeared to be with his father.

“ _I told her everything, y'know? And she never judged me for it,” Chris said, leaning back on the bench and keeping his eyes on Kiley as she skated across the pavement. “I told her that I was gay as soon as I realized, and you know what she said?”_

_Johnny shook his head, clearly invested in the story and unwilling to interrupt. He often wondered if this was the relationship he might've had with his own mother if she'd lived longer._

“ _She told me that she loved me, no matter what. That all that mattered to her was that I was happy.” The soft smile that grew on Chris' face as he spoke told Johnny just how much that had meant to him and his heart may have stuttered at the way it made the other gorilla look – utterly adorable._

_Chris finally took his eyes off Kiley to look at Johnny and the smile became sadder._

“ _If my dad had stuck around... I'd like to think I'd be able to tell him too.”_

_Johnny winced and looked away._

“ _Look, I get that you're scared,” Chris said, leaning forward to see Johnny's face. “You're scared, right?”_

“ _'e completely rejected_ _me over th'whole singin' thin',” Johnny said, bitterly. He crossed his arms and sighed. “What if this is too far? 'e accepted_ that, _eventually_ , _but can 'e accept this?”_

“ _You're dad loves you, Johnny,” Chris said, firmly. Johnny's eyebrows drew together and he looked sideways at him. Chris looked sure, like it was just something he just_ knew _. “You wanna know how I know that?”_

 _Johnny thought for a minute, not quite sure if he_ did _want to know, but eventually nodded. Chris would tell him, anyway._

“ _He yelled at you, he said some awful things to you, and y'know what? He still covered for you.”_

_Johnny turned to look at him fully when he said that, confused but admittedly intrigued. Chris smiled when their eyes met and continued._

“ _You said you disappointed him, that you let him down? He could've easily asked for a lawyer and turned you in for your part. You may not have been there for that heist, but you were involved in others. You could be right next to him in that cell. But you're not.” He shrugged and looked back Kiley, leaning back against the bench again._

“ _Sounds a lot like love to me. And someone who loves you that much? They're not gonna give you up over something like this.”_

_Johnny bit his lip as they fell silent and Chris' words cycled through his head. That was a perspective he hadn't considered before._

So, Johnny decided to suck it up and just tell his dad. He'd already experienced the worst that could happen, and this time he had a support system if it happened again – and Chris' certainty that it wouldn't helped.

So here he sat, in the same booth they always used, with his father on the other side of the glass, waiting for him to speak, a task that was taking far longer than it should, they'd already been here for ten minutes.

He was hesitating again as he tried to come up with the best way to tell his dad he was in a gay relationship, and he didn't notice how his dad seemed to be getting more and more tense with each passing second.

He had been “umm”-ing and “well I”-ing and basically just making meaningless noise the entire time. He'd start a sentence, stutter a bit, and then fall into incoherent mumbling. The silence and anxiousness of the situation was getting to Marcus.

“Johnny,” he spoke up, causing the younger gorilla to jump and stare up warily. “Are you _okay_ , son?”

Johnny winced a little, shrugged, and “ho-hummed” some more. Marcus would've sighed, but he was getting incredibly concerned. Was Johnny hurt? Was he sick? Oh god, was he _dying_? Marcus didn't know _what_ was going on, but Johnny's reluctance to tell him wasn't promising.

“Just... _tell_ me whats wrong,” he said, his grip tightening on the phone until the plastic started creaking. Johnny winced at the sound looked at him with such a pitiful and fearful look – like he was about to announce the end of the world. He heaved a body-heavy sigh and Marcus could feel his stomach drop.

“Dad, I'm gay,” he finally said, his eyes fixed firmly on the table and his shoulders tensed. It took a moment for the words to register with Marcus, and when they finally did his whole body sagged in relief and he dropped his head into his free hand.

“ _Oh thank god_ ,” he huffed out with an explosive sigh, laughing a little now that he could breathe properly again. Johnny's head came up with a confused frown and Marcus could've laughed more. “I thou' you were _dyin'_ or somethin', _hell_. Y'had me worried, Johnny!”

Johnny blinked and then shook his head.

“You – you ain't mad?” he asked, shocked. Marcus wiped a hand down his face and leaned back in his chair. He gave Johnny a long look, secretly pleased at the way his boy tensed up(turn about was fair play – if Jonny was going to scare the life out of him, he was allowed to do it back), and grinned.

“Hell, Johnny, I know I ain't done good by ya,” he admitted, somewhat shamefully, “but you're my son. I love you, an' ain't nothin' gonna change that. Swear on me life, so long as you're 'appy and 'ealthy, who you love don't ma'er.”

Johnny couldn't describe the purely euphoric sense of relief that filled him when Marcus said that. If there weren't bulletproof glass in the way, he'd have hugged his father.

“Aw, dad, I'm so glad t'ear you say tha',” he said, smiling for the first time since he'd arrived. “Cause I met someone a couple o'weeks ago.”

 _'Well_ ,' Marcus mused as his own relief melted away in the face of the 'protective father' instincts that rose as Johnny began describing his new boyfriend, ' _as long as he's happy?'_

 


	4. Oh I Miss You, You Know

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes schedules just don't match up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just thought this would be a cute scene. And I was right, it's adorable. 
> 
> As always, if you have anything you want to see from these two feel free to request it! 
> 
> Hope you enjoy, and much love to you all~

It had been just over a week since Chris and Johnny's last date. It wasn't for a lack of trying, on either part, they had simply been too busy.

It wasn't unusual for Chris to take long hours – picking up shifts, or staying longer than scheduled, especially when he was assigned to a large project. He was solely responsible for his sister's well being, a responsibility that was more costly than people realized. And with the new school year coming up, tuition due(private school was astronomically expensive, especially for a construction worker, but he wanted her to have the best education possible), and supplies to buy, Chris needed money more than usual. Picking up overtime was the only way to keep up with the expenses.

And unfortunately, it seemed like every time he _was_ free, _Johnny_ was busy. His work at the theater, and his visits with his father, took up most of _his_ time. And sure, Chris was feeling a little lonely, but he wasn't about to bother Johnny when he was busy with those important things. It was just bad luck that their free time didn't coincide – hopefully it wouldn't last much longer. He really missed Johnny.

He sighed for what had to be the tenth time that day, giving sad eyes to the tiles he was trying to pattern the wall with.

“Will you cut that out?” Chris turned to look at the old bear, who gave him a very irritated scowl back. “You've been moping like some kind'a brokenhearted teenager since you got here. Stop it.”

Chris stared at him for a moment and Gus stared back. Rocky walked past the door, loudly(and badly) singing along to whatever he was listening to. Finally, Chris sighed again and went back to tiling and Gus, with narrowed eyes, stepped back into the other room to finish his grout.

After a few minutes of tiling, Chris reached into his belt and pulled out his phone. No new messages. He slipped the phone back into his pocket and sighed once more.

“Oh my god!” Gus slammed his fist into the door frame and Chris jumped three feet from fright. “Just go, already! You're getting on my last nerve.”

Chris blinked and frowned, confused. “What?”

Gus rolled his eyes, grabbed Chris by the wrist, and started dragging him to the exit.

“ _Go_ , already. You're holdin us back with your moaning. Go find your boyfriend and get over this nonsense.”

“But-”

“Dude, just go,” Rocky piped up from the other end of the room. “We'll cover for you, don't worry about it.”

Before Chris could even attempt to protest, Gus and Rocky had shoved him out of the suite and locked the door. He stared at the door and furrowed his brows, trying to figure _what_ had just happened, a task which only took a moment before he was suddenly grinning and booking it out of the site like it was on fire.

* * *

 

Johnny couldn't _be_ more bored, sitting at their new piano while Gunter and Rosita practiced their new routine on stage. He leaned against the edge of the paino, his cheek resting on his closed fist, and tapped despondently at the keys. Ash, who was sitting on the bench beside him and polishing her guitar, groaned.

“Can you stop that? You're giving me a headache,” she said, glowering at him from beneath her quils. Had he actually been playing something, she wouldn't have minded. But all he was doing was repeatedly tapping the same bass key over and over and it was starting to give her a migraine. “Either play something or find something else to do, _please_.”

“Ah, sorry Ash,” Johnny apologized, snatching his hand away from the keys with a sheepish grin. “Guess I'm jus'a bit, uh... distracted.”

She gave him a calculating stare, long enough that Johnny was starting to become nervous, before she went back to her instrument. He let out a soft huff and went back to contemplating the fingerprint smudges on the piano keys, this time without touching them.

“So what's got your fur on end?” Ash asked after a moment.

“Huh?” was his intelligent reply.

“You've been huffing and puffin all day, what's up?” She wasn't looking at him when she asked, acting aloof in that usual way she dealt with things. But the fact that she even asked cheered Johnny up, a little.

“It's jus'... nothin', really. Jus' feelin' lonely, I guess.” The look she gave him was distinctly unimpressed. He was a little embarrassed, to be perfectly honest. Here he and Chris had been dating for just over a month and he was already pining. It was weird, how used to Chris he'd gotten.

“Why don't you just go get him, then?” Ash asked when he didn't elaborate. Johnny shrugged and his fingers twitched as he repressed the urge to start tapping the keys again. Rosita and Gunter had finished their routine, everyone would hear his moping if he started again.

“I can't. I'm busy 'ere, and 'e's busy with work.”

“You're literally doing nothing, right now, Johnny.”

Johnny huffed, but before he could say anything else, the theater doors opened. He leaned back enough to see who it was, but didn't have a chance to get a good look before Ash was scrambling out of the way of the giant mass of black and red thundering up the stage stairs and practically tackling Johnny off the bench. He wouldn't have been able to say anything anyway, as his assailant smashed their faces together in a wet kiss that had half his coworkers cackling.

Oh well, may as well roll with it.

Ash gagged jokingly as the impromptu smooch morphed into a make-out session on the floor.

The moment was ruined rapidly, however, by Buster shouting from the stage.

“ _Johnny_!”

Johnny's head snapped up and he gave Buster a wide-eyed look of pure fear. Chris, however, just stared at the koala with barely hidden resentment.

“Oh my god- Mr Moon! I'm _so_ sorry, I-” Buster waved his hands placatingly to stop Johnny, and smiled.

“I don't think you're gonna get much done today, why don't you take the rest of the day off?” It was phrased as a question, but he wasn't really looking for a response.

“O-oh, yeah! Thank you, Mr. Moon!” Chris didn't wait around for any answer; and he wasn't expecting one from the way Buster just waved his hand and started speaking to Ash, he just grabbed Johnny's hand and started tugging him towards the door.

“Have fun, you two!” Rosita called, waving with one hand and shoving a whistling Gunter away with the other. Johnny waved back with a grin, but otherwise said nothing as Chris tugged him along. Clearly with some destination in mind.

“So, where're we goin'?” he asked once they exited the theater. Chris shrugged and tugged him close, so he could wrap his arm around Johnny's waist. Johnny mimicked the gesture and the two strolled down the street.

“Dunno,” Chris finally said. “Who cares, so long as we do something together.”

 


	5. Work Work Work Work Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Datus Interruptus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was five pages long. Longest chapter yet, I believe. Y'all better appreciate it.
> 
> There's references to my favorite mobile game, disney tsum tsum, and one of my favorite tumblr blogs. Lets see if you can guess which one.
> 
> Remember, feel free to leave requests! I'd love to know what you guys would like from this story.
> 
> And, as always, thank you.

Johnny and Chris' attempts to see each other more often were at least marginally successful. They both lead busy lives, but thankfully their friends and coworkers were kind enough to help out on occasion. Even Marcus had pretty much kicked his son out of the visiting room when Johnny told him Chris finally had a whole evening off.

They still had scheduling conflicts – Nana Noodleman had come to Buster with an idea for a new production recently, which meant Johnny was spending more and more time rehearsing, and a recent late-summer storm had cause severe damage to part of the hotel Chris' company was restoring, leading to more hours for the already over worked gorilla.

Tonight was supposed to be a night for the two of them to spend together.

However, as Johnny sat beside Kiley at Chris' kitchen table while Chris ran around the room, trying to cook and talk on the phone at the same time, Johnny started to suspect that wouldn't be the case. Johnny had offered to help, but Chris had politely but firmly told him to “sit his ass down and relax already,” and gone back to making macaroni.

“Ye... _yes_ , Miss Selma. Yes, it's no problem,” Chris spoke into the receiver. He had the phone precariously held between his ear and shoulder so he had his hands free to cook. Johnny was impressed, actually, at his ability to multitask.

He watched Chris retrieve a colander from a low cupboard and drop it in the sink before picking up the heavy pot of noodles and dumping them in the strainer to drain, shaking the metal bowl around without once dislodging the phone from his shoulder. Once strained of all excess water, they were deposited back into the pot so he could add the cheese.

“No, no, no, don't worry about it. No, Kiley will be just fine, you enjoy your movie,” Chris continued to speak and work, shooting Johnny an occasional look of fond exasperation. Johnny had no idea who this Miss Selma was, but Kiley looked relieved at not being involved.

“Miss Selma's the old goat who lives next door,” Kiley told him as she fiddled with the tablet, switching from the blog app to a game that resembled bejeweled with little round characters instead of gems. “She usually babysits for me, but I guess she'd busy tonight.”

“Don' you like 'er?” Johnny asked, looking away from Chris to give Kiley his attention. She shrugged and drew a crooked line across the tablet screen, smiling when seven of the round characters disappeared.

“She's fine, she's just boring.” Johnny nodded, but before he could respond the shrill ring of Chris' house phone interrupted. Kiley let out a sigh and sagged in her chair at the sound of it, but didn't say anything at Johnny's questioning look.

“Oh shi-uh, shoot, I'm sorry Miss Selma, I have to go,” Chris said into the cellphone, pulling it away from his shoulder and moving towards the closest ringing phone. “Enjoy your movie, and don't worry about us. We'll be fine. Yes. Ye..yes, okay. Goodnight.”

He hung up the cellphone and tossed it onto the kitchen table so he could make a mad dash towards the house phone before it stopped ringing. Johnny peered curiously at the still lit screen and saw the picture of an _ancient_ looking nana goat with tiny glasses peering at the camera like she'd never seen one before.

Perhaps she hadn't.

Johnny could hear Chris in the living room, talking lowly with whoever had called on the phone and sounding quite frustrated. He looked back at Kiley, who was back to scrolling through the blog app with a scowl on her face.

“S'wrong?” he asked, nudging her with his elbow. She glanced up at him and huffed.

“There's only one guy who calls our house,” she said with something that sounded like...defeat? Or perhaps resigned acceptance, this situation was one she'd clearly experienced before.

“'o's that?” Johnny asked when she didn't finish her answer. She sighed and tapped the tablet gently on the edge of the table. Johnny winced at the dull thud and hoped she wouldn't damage the clearly expensive piece of hardware.

“Chris' boss. Chris says he only calls the house phone so he has an e'scuse to not make him come in if Chris doesn't pick it up, but he calls almost _every time_ Chris is home.”

 _Ah_.

Johnny looked back toward the living room, where the conversation had hushed and he couldn't hear it anymore.

“I don' think I'd like tha', either,” Johnny said, hunching forward a bit, leaning on the table. He didn't, as it turns out, like it at all. He knew Chris would accept any over time he could, money was tight for him, which meant their date night was officially over.

It wasn't a moment later that Chris rushed into the room and snatched his phone up off the table. He frantically scrolled through the contacts, looking for anyone who might be available to watch Kiley, and mumbling loudly to himself as he did it. Johnny listened as he verbally went through the list and continuously reminded himself that whoever he was looking at was busy. Johnny was surprised and slightly upset to learn that Chris had all of his friends' schedule memorized – probably for just such an issue.

“Chris?” Johnny asked, waving his hand to get the other gorilla's attention. Chris jumped and blinked owlishly at Johnny, like he'd forgotten his boyfriend was there for a moment. Johnny would've been hurt, but he knew Chris had a lot on his plate right now and didn't mean anything by it.

“Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, Johnny!” Chris apologized. “There was an accident at the sight, someone got hurt and they need me to fill in. God, I know I'm awful for this, but can we reschedule? I promise I'll make it up to you.”

Johnny smiled patiently and stood up. He grabbed Chris' hand, which had been clenching the phone tight enough that he could hear the casing creak, and eased it out of his grip.

“Don' worry abou' it, love, we'll have plenty of time la'er,” Johnny said, gently massaging Chris' hands until he relaxed and leaned into Johnny's shoulder.

“I must be the worst boyfriend ever,” he grumbled into Johnny's shirt, and Johnny chuckled.

“Eh, you're not _tha'_ bad,” Johnny assured. “You're fashion sense could use a li'le tweakin', though.”

Chris snorted and pulled away.

“That's rich, coming from you. I'm pretty sure you _sleep_ in that leather jacket.” Johnny shrugged, but didn't deny it, which just made Chris laugh more. Johnny shoved him a bit and moved back towards the table.

“Go'n, then. I'll watch Kiley for ya,” he said, reclining in the kitchen chair and draping his arm around a bewildered looking Kiley. “S'a great time to bond, yeah?”

“I couldn't ask you for that-” Johnny cut Chris off with another wave and grinned.

“You're no' askin', I'm offerin'. So go on.” He made a 'shooing' motion with his free hand and Chris rolled his eyes.

“Fine! But if I come back to a house on fire, it's gonna be entirely on you.”

“We'll keep th'arson to a minimum, promise.” Johnny swore, hand over his heart like he'd ever been a boy scout. Chris gave him a very unimpressed look, but accepted anyway. He stopped by the stove to dish out dinner, setting bowls out for Kiley and Johnny – macaroni and cheese wasn't what he'd had in mind for the first meal he'd cook Johnny, but he didn't have much of a choice tonight, before dashing to his bedroom to get ready for work.

Kiley hopped off her chair to grab a couple juice boxes from the fridge just as Chris emerged from his room, awkwardly securing his work belt while holding his hard hat under one arm. He didn't say anything as he approached them, dropping to give Kiley a tight hug and an apology, before practically jumping on Johnny to give him a goodbye kiss before moving to the foyer.

“I shouldn't be more than a couple hours, they're gonna let me leave whenever I finish the job Tom was working on,” he told Johnny as he dug around for his bike keys. The motorcycle Chris owned was uninsured and only ever used for emergencies like this. Thankfully it had been dry the last few days.

He stopped in the doorway for a second, frozen as if remembering something, before twisting around and pointing at Kiley. The look she gave him was one of pure innocence, buy Chris clearly wasn't fooled.

“Behave,” he told her. “And finish your homework. I really don't want another call from your teachers that you're falling behind again.”

Kiley huffed and rolled her eyes, but finally nodded when Chris didn't move an inch. He nodded back, smiled at both of them, and then booked it out of the house. There was an awkward moment of silence after that as Johnny and Kiley both looked at each other. Johnny smiled at her and she rolled her eyes and started digging into her meal. Johnny followed the example and was pleased to find out that the macaroni and cheese was _delicious_. He decided then and there that he would never accept home cooking from anyone that wasn't Chris ever again.

“He didn't eat anything again.” Kiley mumbled, once she'd finished scarfing down her meal, Johnny frowned, only halfway through his own bowl, and looked at her.

“'e doesn' eat?” Johnny asked, concern beginning to grow in the pit of his stomach. Kiley shrugged.

“He does when he remembers to. He gets realy busy tho, so he forgets a lot.”

Johnny looked back at his plate as Kiley went silent again, suddenly not as hungry as he had been. He finished his meal, it would be rude not to, and it was still delicious, but worry was overriding his hunger.

It didn't take long for Kiley to go back to her blogging. Johnny, curious and knowing there was nothing he could do about Chris' eating habits now, leaned over to look at what she was reading and frowned at the weirdly written messages.

“What, uh. Wha're you readin'?” he asked. She looked up at him and stared at him through narrowed eyes, considering... _something_ , before nodding(apparently approving of whatever she saw) and showing him the full page.

“His name's Elmer and he'd my favorite blogger,” she said, excited to tell him all about this Elmer character.

* * *

It took Chris four hours to finish the job Tom had been assigned, and he was more than beat by the time he got home. All he wanted to do was collapse into bed, but he still had to check on Kiley's homework, make her lunch for tomorrow, and find a way to thank Johnny.

He honestly hadn't expected anything to go wrong while he was away, but when he opened the door and was greeted with the sounds of sobbing, his heart plummeted and he rushed into the living room. There he found Johnny, curled up against the back of the couch, and sobbing into a pillow.

“Johnny!?” he yelped, surging forward to try and help. Before he could start asking the rapid-fire questions darting around in his mind, foremost where Kiley was, Johnny rolled over to look at him.

“ _Chris!”_ he gasped, reaching out to Chris with a shaky hand. His eyes were red and puffy and Chris immediately grabbed his hand.

“What happened!?” he practically shouted, only for Johnny to choke back a suspicious sounding sob and stutter out a word.

“ _S-squamch!”_ he cried before dissolving into laughter and practically rolling off the couch. Chris sat frozen by the hysterical ape, silently mouthing the word 'squamch', before catching sight of the tablet, open to a certain blog, on the coffee table. Distinctly unimpressed. He dropped Johnny's hand, stood up, and left the room.

“W-wait, Chris!” Johnny called, still laughing. He reached out for Chris, but fell to the floor with an 'oomph!' and more laughter. “Chris, listen!”

“I'm _not_ listening to you, Johnny,” Chris called from his room, where he was exchanging his sweaty work clothes for pyjamas. He'd shower in the morning.

He could hear Johnny's laughter dying down into more controlled chuckles and when he finally exited his room in a pair of old university sweat pants and a tank-top, carrying a spare blanket and pillow, Johnny was back on the couch and _still_ looking through that blog.

“Just for that, you're sleeping on the couch tonight,” Chris said, depositing the blanket and pillow on the couch, and Johnny gave him a cheeky grin.

“Are we finally at the sharin' beds point?”

“Nope, cause you had to go and give me a heart attack it's being put off indefinitely.” Johnny pouted, but accepted. It had been an honest accident, he had no idea Chris would be home exactly then, but Chris _was_ looking pretty stressed and frankly, Johnny wasn't sure they were ready for bed sharing anyway.

It had only been a few months, after all.

“I'm sorry, Chris,” Johnny said, genuinely. Chris sighed and smiled tiredly.

“I know, don't worry about it.” He leaned over the arm of the couch to give Johnny a kiss and then turned away. “G'night, Johnny.”=

“G'night, Chris!” Johnny called after.

“G'night, Kiley!” Kiley yelled from her room, drawing a laugh from both of them.

“G'night, Kiley,” they called back simultaneously.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also I apologize for the abrupt ending, I lost the plot.


End file.
